Readability Analyzer

For general web writing, 60 to 70 on Flesch Reading Ease, which maps to a Grade 8 to 9 reading level. Most newspapers land there. Marketing copy often targets 70 to 80. Technical documentation typically sits at 30 to 50 and that is acceptable, because the audience is paid to read it. What matters is matching your reader, not maximising the number.

The formula only sees two things: how many words are in your average sentence, and how many syllables are in your average word. If you rewrote for clarity but kept the same sentence lengths and vocabulary, the score is right to ignore it. To move it, split sentences and swap polysyllabic words for shorter ones.

With an English heuristic, not a dictionary. The word is lowercased, non-letters are stripped, words of three letters or fewer count as one syllable, a trailing silent e or ed is dropped, and then vowel groups are counted. It is close enough across a paragraph and it will be wrong on individual words such as queue or rhythm.

No. The syllable rules are English-specific and the formulas were calibrated on English prose. Running German or Spanish through it will produce a number, and that number is meaningless. Numbers, code snippets, and long URLs will also skew the result, so strip them before you measure.

Sentences are split on periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. Abbreviations (e.g., Dr., i.e.), decimals (3.5), and ellipses each register as a sentence break. A text full of them will show more sentences, shorter average sentences, and a flatteringly high reading ease score.